CLASSES
Czech and Slovak Language Classes for Adults
Schedule for 2024-2025
Fall trimester: Week of September 30 – Week of December 2 or 9
Winter trimester: Week of January 6 – Week of March 10
Spring trimester: Week of March 24 – Week of May 26
Learn Czech or Slovak with Sokol Minnesota!
- Language classes for adults at many levels
- Open to high school students with permission
- Friendly and supportive learning atmosphere
- Ten-week trimesters
- One 90-minute class per week
- In-person classes meet at our historic CSPS Hall, 383 W Michigan, St. Paul
- Online classes meet via Zoom and are open to students anywhere
- Enrollment limits: minimum four students, maximum ten students
- $125 per trimester for Sokol Minnesota members; $150 for non-members
- Textbooks may be purchased from Sokol Minnesota
Registration now for Spring classes!
Our classes are 3-trimester sequences that run September to May. If you are new and wish to join a class this Spring, contact Education Director Sally Lieberman at education@sokolmn.org before registering.
Questions? education@sokolmn.org
Beginning Czech (A1), In person
Instructor: Luboš Mareš (Click to read profile)
Thursdays 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Beginning Czech Year Two (A1), In person
Primarily for students who took beginning Czech last year; others please consult Sally Lieberman, education@sokolmn.org, before registering.
Instructor: Michael Trittipo (Click to read profile)
Wednesdays 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Advanced Beginning Czech (A2), Online
Primarily for students continuing at this level from last year; others please consult Sally Lieberman, education@sokolmn.org, before registering.
Instructor: Tess Dajc (Click to read profile)
Tuesdays 5:30-7:00 p.m. CT
Advanced Czech (B2), Online
For students who already know basic Czech grammar and can read and converse about a variety of topics.
Instructor: Renáta Tichá (Click to read profile)
Tuesdays 7:00-8:30 p.m. CT
Beginning Slovak Study Group
Students who have had some instruction in beginning Slovak and would like to continue learning Slovak may be able to join an informal study group for the Spring term. If interested, contact education@sokolmn.org.
Michael Trittipo
In-person, Beginning Czech Year Two
Michael Trittipo studied second-language teaching theory and methods at the University of Minnesota (for teaching ESL) and the Defense Language Institute (where he taught French 2019-2020). The DLI also happens to be where he first learned Czech as a soldier during the Cold War, with zero background. (You can learn it as an adult, too!) He maintains it with reading and listening, and occasional months at one of the Czech “summer schools.” He looks forward to his second year of teaching this wonderful language.
Tess Dajc
Online, Advanced Beginning Czech
Tess Dajc was born in Kolín, Czech Republic. She has been teaching Czech for over ten years. In her spare time, she likes to write poetry and was recently published in several literary journals.
Luboš Mareš
In-person, Beginning Czech
Luboš Mareš was born in the Czech Republic in the small town of Milevsko. After elementary school he continued to study at the Central School of Engineering (SPSS) in Tabor and ended his educational journey in Prague at Czech Technical University (CVUT). He has been living in Minnesota for 23 years. Luboš is a teacher of kung fu, tai chi, qigong and mindfulness at Sokol Minnesota. Teaching Czech language gives Luboš the opportunity to bring the Czech Republic closer to our hearts.
Renáta Tichá, PhD
Online, Advanced Czech
Renáta Tichá, PhD, has been teaching advanced Czech at Czech and Slovak Sokol Minnesota for the last nine years. She is originally from the Czech Republic and enjoys supporting Czech learners in Minnesota on their Czech language journeys, including for preserving their Czech heritage, speaking Czech with their family, or wanting to study or work in the Czech Republic. She is also a research faculty in special education and disability services at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration.
George Hoffman
Online, Beginning Slovak
George Hoffman has studied Slovak for over 12 years, and has taught it for three years. He has a Ph.D. in Classical Languages and taught Ancient Greek and Latin in college in the 1970s, after which he went to work for the Minnesota Department of Human Services. His favorite Slovak writer is Dominik Dán, the author of an extensive collection of murder mysteries set in Bratislava. George‘s maternal grandparents were both Slovaks from the Námestovo area, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1903 and lived in Chicago. He has been to Slovakia several times and has visited Námestovo.